6-year-old Portland boy donates allowance money to honor 3 Washington firefighters who died

PORTLAND (KPTV) -- A 6-year-old Portland boy is donating his allowance money to support firefighters and the families of the three Washington firefighters who were killed in a wildfire near Twisp, Wash., last week.

According to KPTV in Portland, the boy, Abay Milner, said that when he noticed a thick smoky haze settling in over Portland, he wanted to know what was going on.

“I thought, where is the smoke coming from? That’s the first thing I thought,” said Abay. “Then I thought, why is the smoke all the way here in Portland? And then I heard there was a wildfire, and then I heard it was far away, so I thought that’s good, because there was no ashes in the smoke.”

But, then he learned more.

“We heard about the three firefighters who died, and I felt sad,” said Abay.

The soon-to-be first-grader wrote a letter and put together a special memory box for the firefighters and their families.

“I wrote: 'for firefighters who died in wildfires, it’s a memory box from Abay, thank you for risking your life to save others.'”

Abay and his mother then drove over to Fire Station 13 in NE Portland to deliver the gift, KPTV said.

“This little boy walked up with his mother and he had a little box with him,” said Portland firefighter Kevin Dolphin. “He said he had a gift to give us, because he had heard about the firefighters who passed away.”

Abay handed over that box, and inside was a special firefighter Lego toy and all of his allowance money.

“I put all of my giving-away money in it, because I wanted to give a present and that’s all I really had,” said Abay.

It totaled up to be some $20  in change that Abay told FOX 12 he’d been saving.

“I thought it was awesome that he took it upon himself to save up the money, money that he could spend on himself, and instead he gave it to us,” said Dolphin.

It was a small gesture, but as Abay said, “Sometimes the best time to do it, is when you feel like doing it.

“I didn’t know who these guys are, but I felt sad that they had to have that kind of death.  They risk their lives for other people that they don’t know.”

Abay says if the families of those fallen firefighters happen to read this story, he wants them to know he’s thinking of them and he hopes they have a good night.

Fire crews say they sent Abay's box over to a Fallen Firefighter Foundation.